BROWN: Rauner will need to be a miracle worker to make financial plan work

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Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner has a scary talent for telling people what they want to hear, but what’s most frightening is that voters will keep believing him.

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Rauner finally offered some specifics this week on how he plans to pull Illinois out of its financial problems, and I don’t doubt that his blatant pandering was well received by many.

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In addition to rolling back the state’s income tax increase, Rauner now says he will freeze property taxes, too, while still delivering more money to schools—which would be a mean trick even for the great Bruce Almighty.

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Some would go so far as to call it a mathematical impossibility, but they must be unfamiliar with his miracle of the jobs and fishes.

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If people are determined to give Pat Quinn the boot to send a message to Illinois Democrats, there’s not much I can say, but please don’t fall for this illusion that the rich man has the secret pain-free formula to save us all.

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Setting aside for a moment the reality that under his own proposal Rauner would actually have to increase, yes INCREASE, income taxes before he could cut them as much as he claims under his phaseout plan, the promise I found the most stunning was the property tax freeze.